Donald Cerrone moseyed inside Saturday evening wearing a brimmed hat and a bolo tie, shaking hands with security guards in the hallways. Outside, he hoped, his posse was handing out free cans of beer from an RV, 50 cases of it. “I’m a man of the people,” he said.
The fighter known as “Cowboy” is at least a man of Colorado, a hometown veteran of the mixed martial arts who found the sport when he went looking for something more exciting than bull riding. More than 10 years after his first professional MMA bout, a decade removed from dusty fights with sparse crowds along the front range, , this time with an arena full of fans on his side.
But the 33-year-old stepped into a street fight at the Pepsi Center on a nationally-televised card, as Miami’s Jorge Masvidal stunned Cerrone in a swirl of strikes for a second-round knockout in front of 13,233 fans in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Denver.
“He didn’t have to come out in the second round and he did,” Masvidal said. “I looked right into his soul, and he wasn’t there. I told him he’s a tough dude.”
Cerrone dominated the first round, connecting on a right-left combo that swelled Masvidal’s cheek. Cerrone jabbed at his nose and kicked at his legs. But with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first, Masvidal landed an overhand right hand that shocked Cerrone to the mat. Only the buzzer saved him.
With weak knees and a red face, Cerrone stumbled through the second and Masvidal picked his spots for more punches before referee Herb Dean waved off the the finish at 1:00. Cerrone (32-8) lost his first bout since moving to the 170-pound welterweight division, snapping a four-win streak, including three KOs of his own. Masvidal (32-11) set himself for a move up the rankings from No. 12. Cerrone entered at No. 5.
The UFC returned to the city of its conception more than 24 years after a wild beginning at McNichols Sports Arena in 1993. Those first fights were light on rules and thick with brutality, born from the curiosity of what kind of fighter is most effective. Royce Gracie, a smaller tactician practiced in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, used a variety of skills to breeze through an eight-man tournament. He submitted bigger, stronger, stiffer opponents to win $50,000 in front of about 7,800 people.
Those, though, were the weird, old days. The UFC is now a $4 billion international promotion. And its most successful fighters are fluid gymnasts of violence. Cerrone rode the rise of MMA after cutting his teeth as a kick boxer. He is among the UFC’s most active fighters and a victory Saturday would have tied a record held by Michael Bisping at 20.
“He was a street fighter before this,” Cerrone said Thursday. “He’s a game dude. He’s tough and he’ll bring it. But he doesn’t have the skills to beat me.”
Against Masvidal, Cerrone was the more accomplished fighter. But he fell victim to a wild swing in momentum at the end of the first round.
The main event, too, was an old-school style challenge. Valentina Shevchenko, No. 1 ranked in the 135-pound bantamweight division and an , faced down grappling expert Julianna Peña.
Shevchenko never shied from a mat battle. In a contest of will and a show of technical wrestling, Shevchenko from the bottom position flipped Peña into an arm bar to force a tap-out at 4:29 of the second round. Shevchenko will likely next face Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title once held by Ronda Rousey.
“I’m a martial artist. I’m not just a striker, I’m a complete fighter,” Shevchenko said. “I’m pretty sure my next fight will be for the title.”
In an undercard bout, Denver veteran Nate Marquardt (38-17-2) fell by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards, to California’s Sam Alvey (30-8) in a bruising middleweight bout. Marquardt nearly submitted Alvey in the second round with a rear naked choke hold, but Alvey slipped away and landed more strikes.
Also, heavyweight Francis Ngannou (10-1) from Paris, France, continued a quick rise up the rankings with a first-round knockout of Andrei Arlovski (25-14) just 1:32 into the bout. He clocked the former champion with a right uppercut that set him to the mat immediately. And Mississippi’s Jason Knight (19-2) defeated Miami’s Alex Caceres (12-10) by submission with a rear naked choke in the second round of a featherweight bout.
